His Will, Our Salvation

By John Madge

“Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!’”—Matthew 20:17–19 (NIV)

One of the most common prayers we pray is for the will of God to be accomplished through our lives. Although if we’re being honest, we often pray this with conditional dependencies upon our hopes, desires, and comforts. I’d like to draw your attention to each usage of the word ‘will’ in today’s passage of Scripture. Jesus speaks plainly to His disciples of the will of God for His earthly life.

Beginning with His first usage, “And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.” According to Blue Letter Bible, the phrase “will be delivered” occurs a total of 10 times. It’s used in two drastically different contexts:

1.To be delivered into the hands of your enemies (as in today’s Scripture)

2.To be delivered and saved from judgment

Jesus was delivered into the hands of His enemies so you and I could be delivered from the hands of our two greatest enemies: sin and death. The Bible describes anyone guilty of sin (all of us) as under the curse of death due to the “wages of sin.”

For the next usage, “They will condemn him to death,” imagine seeing your name instead of “him.” It would be a just sentence against us due to our sin nature. However, Jesus takes our place in condemnation of sin, so you and I can declare, “Therefore,there is nownocondemnationfor those who areinChrist Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV).

Before I get to the next usage, read Luke 23:12. This verse mentions enemies (Jews and Gentiles) uniting to condemn Jesus to death. The next usage supports Luke 23:12, saying, “And will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.” Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of hatred that exists between different groups of people? Jesus knows the full measure of every ounce of hatred because enemies became allies to crucify Him. Jesus was rejected and regarded as nothing so you and I could be accepted and regarded as children of God.

In the final usage, “On the third day he will be raised to life!”, we see the promise of resurrection and Jesus’ power over death. Romans 6:5 (NIV) says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Jesus resurrected from the dead so you and I could declare, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57 NIV).

Pause: Consider the will of God for Jesus’ life and remember that His desire for your life is to receive the offering of Jesus’ life.

Practice: Read Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

Pray: Jesus I thank You for Your perfect obedience to the will of God. I thank You for doing what I cannot do for myself. I receive Your sacrifice and ask You to make me a living sacrifice unto Yourself. Amen.